Back in 1995, God gave me a peculiar dream; one that I won’t soon forget.
My dad was called to preach in the mid-’80’s, just before I graduated high school. About 18 months into pastoring a small church, some harsh words were spoken between him and his sister, and he resigned from the position.
After I married in 1986, I was not in church much, but in 1995, I attended a revival in that church. During the 3 weeks that it ran, I developed a burden for my dad. I could see that he was truly called, and he was letting some trivial words be a stumbling block. The Lord gave me a dream to go along with the burden, as well as Rev. 22:10 as a way of explaining that it was to be done as soon as possible.
The dream began with me walking along a paved road, wearing cowboy boots. Just a few feet away, in front of me, was a huge black snake, about 10 ft long. The odd thing about it was that instead of a normal snake’s head, it was my dad’s head--bald with big, brown eyes.
I walked up to the snake and, although it looked harmless, I knew it was actually dangerous. I lifted my right leg, and stomped on the head of the snake as hard as I could. It made an impact, so I did it again. It was stunned, but not dead yet, so I lifted my leg higher and put more force into the crushing blow. That time, the snake rolled over, belly up, and died.
The morning after I had this dream, I was sitting on the side of my bed, reading in Revelations, wondering what to do. I knew I had to tell him of my burden; I had to be obedient. Suddenly the words in chapter 22, verse 10, jumped out at me: ‘for the time is hand.’ So, in my spirit, I asked the Lord, ‘The next time I see him?’ The answer came back: ‘The next time you see him.’
Just a few days later, I had the opportunity to speak to him in private. I told him my burden, that the Lord had told me that he should return to preaching. He gave me a sly ‘that’s none of your business’ look, and that was that. About three months later, when I saw him again, I repeated the first message. Same result.
The third ‘stomp’ came almost four months later. I and my two daughters had gone with them to a singing in Tennessee, and I had left my car at the Burger King in the town where I lived. Upon returning, we all went in for a burger, as none of us had eaten that evening.
I knew this was my last opportunity. It was February, and very cold. He went out to start the car, to warm up before continuing on to their house, another hour away. I did the same. As we walked out of the building, with tears in my eyes, I told him once more that the Lord had called him to preach, and that he should be obedient to that calling.
He started to cry, and told me he knew it, and had known it all along. He said he was waiting for the Lord to give him the opportunity, and he would begin again.
I walked away relieved; I had done my part. I was obedient, even though it was hard for me to tell my dad the words told me to tell him. But, I could not let his disobedience cause mine.
